A Pair
by a shadow of the heart
Summary: Naruto and Gaara run away from home, they meet somewhere in the middle. Read to find out more. Crappy with summaries, but read and you may like...
1. Chapter 1

I don't know where this will be going so I'll change the rating should I need to, but for now...

I own nothing

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Naruto swayed slightly on the seat, staring at the ground as though it held all the answers. His tears had started falling at the looks that the villagers were giving him. The parents and caregivers had pulled all the children away from him, always leaving when they saw him trying to interact with the children. Once alone, the children would treat Naruto much the same as their parents did. Except they were free to throw stones.

In another village, people were calling a boy by the name of 'Demon'. He would try to interact, sand gripping those trying to get away. But he didn't mean any harm. The boy's uncle jumped in front of the girl that he hadn't meant to attack, the sand hitting him instead. The boy cried out. Back in his room, his uncle spoke about external wounds and wounds to the heart. He was excited that external wounds could be healed with medicine, it meant he could help the girl.  
He knocked on her door late that night, offering the medicine out to her. She denied him, shutting the door in his face. He remembered the look on her face, wondering 'why me?'  
He had bumped into a drunk man, who was sorry and begging not to be killed. The boy kept wondering 'Why me?' Killing the drunk. His father stood in the shadows, staring the boy down with disapproving eyes.

In the light of the full moon sat the boy, staring into the night over the horizon. Shock made his body go still, before slowly panning to look at the assailant.  
The boy had ended up hurting the person with the sand that seemed to so love blood. THe person could no longer move, his mask was just one tug away from revealing the face. It was the one face that he thought he wouldn't see. His uncle.  
His uncle attacking him, the order from the Kazekage that he could have declined, but chose to accept. The one man that treated him differently, was no better than everyone else. Everyone who had looked at him like a demon. He was condemned.  
"Gaara, the demon who must love only himself."

Naruto stood close to the gate, wondering when there would be a group leaving that he would be able to sneak out with. His chance came late in the day, a group with a large cart that he would be able to hide in. Quickly he hid inside getting past the chunin that were guarding the gate. Waiting until he was sure that they were far enough away from the village before setting off into the forest.

Gaara stood by the gates, the guards backing away in fear of him. One felt brave enough to try and stop him, only to result in his death, and the death of his comrades. Gaara clutched his clothes tighter to him, each step forward carrying him further away from the village.

Both boys, through some miracle had made it safely to a large deserted underground cavern. Two entrances had them separated for many days. Little rooms heading off corridors that seemed endless to the two, keeping them occupied with the thought that it would become their new home. Now whether it was by chance that they happened to met in one of these rooms or not, it happened. And at first they seemed wary of each other, until it became clear that since neither knew of the others' past, they would _actually_ have someone that was there for them.

Naruto was the first to introduce himself, knowing from how the other boy looked and acted, that he should be quite quiet and reserved. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I want to know what you're doing in my new home!"  
Gaara though, knew from looking at the clothing that the strange boy was wearing and how he spoke, that they were at opposite ends of the scale personality wise.  
"Gaara." He murmured. Naruto couldn't hear him and moved closer. Gaara scrambled back, not really trusting this stranger, even if he seemed friendly enough now, they always harboured feelings of hate towards him. "No! Stay back!"  
Naruto shook his head, moving closer and closer. "I didn't hear your name. I'm not going to hurt you."  
His smile was like the sun to Gaara. Even after walking all that way through the desert, to him it had felt like the first time in days that he had felt warm. "Gaara."  
Naruto's smile brightened. "That wasn't so hard was it? Now that we've found this place, why don't we go outside for a bit, I want to feel the sun again."  
Gaara took the out-stretched hand, feeling a smile tug at the edges of his mouth.

They looked at each other and laughed a little once they have reached the outside. Gaara's red hair, just like Naruto's blonde hair was now dirty and scruffy. Naruto noticed the rings around Gaara's eyes, naively asking about them. Gaara had shrugged it off as just not having slept well while traveling, and asked Naruto about the whiskers on his cheeks. Although he was lying, Naruto muttered that he was trying to imitate a fox, and this was the result.  
Gaara left it alone after that, figuring that if Naruto really wanted to tell him he would.

By the time that the sun was going down, Gaara had realized two things about Naruto. One was that he was always trying to hide the pain that had been inflicted on him behind his chipper demeanor, and two was that Naruto was probably one of the least judgemental people that he had come across in his life so far.  
Naruto had also realized that Gaara was going to be the quiet person that he would rely on when he was in trouble.  
"What are we going to do about dinner?" Naruto's stomach growled halfway through.  
"We go hunt what we have been."  
Naruto laughed, holding his hand out to Gaara. "Why don't we go to another village for a little. We can try to get food from there."  
Gaara hesitantly took his hand, clutching the other over his heart. Naruto let him have the time that he needed to be able to leave with him. When Gaara finally nodded, they left the underground cavern, knowing that they should avoid both konoha and Suna.  
"So what way are we going in?"  
Gaara pointed in a direction that he knew was heading towards Suna, but they would be able to change direction shortly after they had reached a river that he had found earlier. Naruto tugged him close and they set off.

Gaara looked over his shoulder as Naruto kept pulling him forwards. Something didn't feel right to him. "Naruto?"  
Naruto stopped pulling him, hearing how silent it was around them.  
"C'mon, there's -"  
Both boys had scrambled into nearby bushes as they heard the voice of a woman.  
"Huh? What was that?" The woman was moving closer to the place where Naruto and Gaara were hiding.  
"It was probably just an animal. There are a few large creatures out here." A man had said. To both Naruto and Gaara, he had sounded rich.  
"We'll still need to check to make sure." This was a voice that Naruto knew. A ninja that was made to look after him in Konoha.  
"I'll go check it out, Kakashi."  
In the next minute, a woman's face appeared above the boys. She blinked a couple of times, making sure that she was actually seeing what she saw. There were two boys who looked no older than five, huddled together. She pulled back her head, sticking her head back into the bush, still not believing that there were two kids there.  
"Kakashi! I think I'm going insane!" The woman called back, over her shoulder. Turning her attention back to the boys'.  
"What did you find, Umino?" Kakashi asked poking his head into the bush next to Umino's. He looked just as surprised as a Umino had at first.  
Naruto held Gaara close to him, figuring that Kakashi would drag him back to the village. Kakashi pulled Umino back to talk to her about the kids hiding in the bushes.  
"When I say go, you had better run for it Gaara." Naruto stared at the boy, making sure that he understood. "I'll try to be back at the hideout soon."  
Gaara nodded, waiting for Naruto to tell him when he should run. Kakashi popped his head back in, reaching for both Naruto and Gaara. Naruto moved so that he was the only one who would be reached and whispered for Gaara to move.  
As soon as he had started moving, Kakashi had basically thrown Naruto to Umino while he went after the red head. Gaara's defense though, had kicked in, catching Kakashi before he could actually touch Gaara. Umino, worried about her partner, moved to help him, letting Naruto go in the process.  
The blonde moved to help his friend, but had already been pulled by another little hand, which belonged to the original red head. They ran, hoping that the ninja wouldn't catch up to them.  
Both ninja, had caught up reasonably easily to the two young boys, only now Kakashi was wary of the red haired boy. They hadn't expected the two boys to jump into the fast flowing river when they were cornered, but they had.  
"There isn't anyway that they are going to survive that, is there?" Umino sounded sad, knowing that she had just let one of the leaf's missing persons just basically scanned the river, hoping that either Naruto or the red haired boy would pop up somewhere down the river, but neither did. "The Hokage isn't going to be overtly happy is he."  
He knew that it wasn't a question, so stayed quiet. Both mourning the loss of two young boys that would have made for great ninja from what they had seen. "Let's head back now."

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Okay, I wanted to post this to see how it would go. Umm… second chapter will hopefully be posted soon, you know… depending.  
But let me know what you think…


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry guys this is like a back burner sort of story for me. I'm sorry to say that this one won't be getting updated as much as _The Lost Prodigy._

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The boy woke with a pale face hanging over his own. A smile replaced the worried look on the face in front of him. The red headed boy let out a slight gasp as he looked over his friend. "You're alright Naruto. We're both fine."

Naruto properly looked at the redhead in front of him. It only occurred to him then that they were both drenched. "What happened to us?"  
We got caught, then jumped in the river. i'm not sure what happened after that."

"Are you two hungry."

Both boys started at the voice. Gaara moved closer to Naruto, who in turn, moved slightly in front of him. "W-who are you?"  
Gaara trembled behind Naruto, thinking that someone had come to kill him again.

"I am a friend." The man said, knowing that the two boys were the same as him.

"Why should we trust a person whose name we don't know?" Gaara asked quietly. His body still trembling behind the blonde.

"Shouldn't you offer your names first?" The man tilted his head, showing both of the younger boys his chocolate brown eyes. Only he knew with the boys as they were, it wasn't going to do any good trying to get them to tell him their names first. It was all about trust, which they hadn't obviously had little of. "Utakata. My name is Utakata."

The blonde looked at the brunette, eyeing him suspiciously. It shocked the man when a wide smile nearly split his face. "I'm Naruto, and behind me is Gaara."

"W-w-will you be taking care of us?"

Utakata smirked, looking over both boys. "Until you can stand on your own feet."

Utakata stood, moving towards the little redhead and blonde. He held out a hand to each of them, each knowing the significance of it.

"Okay, now don't be frightened. Water Style: Bubble Jutsu Drift."

Naruto held onto Gaara and Utakata as the bubble formed around them and lifted them off the ground. Eventually letting go of each other, Naruto and Gaara looked outside of the bubble. "This is so cool."

Gaara looked at the man that would be taking care of them for a while. "Where are we going?"

"Around. Someone might find us if we stay in one place too long. But I'll let you know once we get there."

"Thanks nii-san."

Utakata popped the bubble once they had reached the outskirts of a small village. "You two alright?"

Both nodded, looking around the greenery. "Where are we?"

"This is the land of Rice Patties. Don't know what village, just looked interesting from the air."

Naruto held out a hand to Gaara, having already learned that the young boy had been scarred, and needed the attention. Although he hadn't quite figured out why yet. Utakata held Gaara's other hand, figuring that was because he was the more sensitive of the two young boys.

Utakata lead them into an inn, figuring that neither of the two were going to have such a luxury soon. While he was talking to the lady, Naruto and Gaara slipped out the door. Standing in the street both of them were looking at the stands and restaurants, particularly the stands selling food. Naruto looked towards a ramen restaurant, whereas Gaara was looking at a stand that had salted tongue. Naruto deciding that the ramen couldn't wait, pulled Gaara over with him.

The man serving others watched the two little scamps climb up the seats, waiting to be served. "Do you have any money on ya?"

Naruto looked at the man behind the bar. He shook his head, waiting to see what would happen. "Out with the two of you then!"

Naruto scrunched up his nose, before climbing back down, figuring that it was going to be just like in the leaf village if he didn't leave. "C'mon Gaara. Is there anywhere that you wanted to go?"

Gaara nodded and headed towards the stand with the salted tongue, pulling Naruto along behind him this time. Half way through the crowd Utakata found them, and decided to follow the two. He waited until they had reached their destination, and saw a shy smile on the redhead's face. The blonde wasn't as happy, but it didn't seem to matter to him.  
Gaara looked at the salted tongue with wide eyes. "We'll take two please." Utakata said from behind him, pointing at the small bags that had the cuts of meat. The vendor smiled, handing the two bags over as Utakata paid. "What would you like Naruto?"  
Naruto lead Utakata and Gaara back the way that they had come. Leading Utakata into the Restaurant. He climbed back up on the seat from before. "MIster!"  
The man turned back to him, not sure if this was some sort of joke or not. "Whata ya doing back here?"  
Naruto looked at the man for a minute. "I'm here for food!"  
The man looked behind the blonde to see an older man with him this time, and the little redhead standing next to him. Utakata lifted a brow at Naruto to get him to order what he wanted. "Miso Ramen!"  
Utakata looked at the boy. "One miso ramen please."  
THe man got to work, putting it in a to-go container. He watched the odd family, wondering if it they really were related or if they were a family that had chosen each other.

Utakata lead the two boys back to their room, knowing that the two wanted to dig into their meals as soon as possible. Well that was an understatement, as Naruto had basically inhaled the ramen, as Gaara had with the salted tongues. Both stared at the packet in his hand with longing. Each started moving, but that didn't seem to go down well with the other. While they had started fighting over who should get the packet, Utakata had taken the chance to eat the most of the contents save for two pieces. He ended up giving one to each boy, laughing at the sour looks on their faces. "Be glad to have gotten any at all."  
He took the two for a bath, leaving early as the two wouldn't stop splashing each other. "Don't stay in for too much longer. Any more than five minutes and you're going to be locked out of the room."  
The boys _aww_ ed, but got out when they heard Utakata leave for the room. "Naruto? Is he really going to be happy with us staying with him?"  
"I hope so. What happens when we need to rely on him and can't cause he's gone?"  
Naruto noticed the redhead's expression, holding out his hand. "But you know that I'm not going to leave you right?"  
Gaara nodded, taking the offered hand, never wanting to let it go. "Thank-you Naruto."

Naruto grabbed Gaara's hand the next day as they were leaving. Utakata saw this and smirked, hiding his expression from the two boys. Both thanked the lady at the desk before continuing down the road, taking in all the beauty that was denied to them before. "Is there anything that you would like?"  
Neither boy responded as they kept looking around. "Hey Gaara, let's go over there!" Naruto pointed at a stall selling masks. Seeing as how everyone back in Konoha seemed scared of a demon fox, Naruto looked over at the fox masks, Gaara following suit. They had each grabbed one, pulling them off the shelf. Gaara held a red striped holding it to his face as Naruto moved over to another one that had looked like a raccoon, pulling a blue striped one off the shelf. Once Naruto had put it on, he walked back over to Utakata and Gaara.  
"I'll take both." The man at the counter muttered a thank you, watching the two young boys that were wearing the masks.  
"Just make sure to watch where you step while wearing those!" The man called out just as Naruto face planted. They could all hear a sniff, but that was it. Gaara kneeled beside his fallen friend. "A-a-are you alright?"  
Naruto nodded, moving the mask to rub his face a little. The mask wasn't entirely moved from his face, just enough to show Gaara the side of his face that didn't hurt. Naruto let Gaara help him up before they took off again. Utakata looking closely at Naruto wobbling slightly. To make sure that he wasn't going to hurt himself further, Utakata took them to the outskirts of the town, casting his jutsu so that they could begin travelling again.

Upon reaching their next destination, Naruto was holding the side of his face that the mask was covering. "Alright Naruto, we're going to find a place to get that checked out." Utakata said.  
"But I only need to go to a river." Naruto complained, pulling his hand back out from under the mask, showing the somewhat dried blood on it. "It's healed now."

Gaara, gripped Naruto's freehand tighter than before as he saw the blood. "But you need medicine to help it heal."  
"It's fine. It will be fine." Naruto waited for Utakata to take them somewhere that he would be able to clean his face, but they had ended up at the very place that he didn't need to go. The hospital.

Utakata lead both the boys over to chairs that would be in his sight so that they couldn't run off again. Telling the nurse at the desk that his brother had cut his head pretty badly, and it needed to be checked out as soon as possible. Once he had signed he went back down to Naruto and Gaara.  
Gaara was trying to peer under the mask to see the damage, but Naruto was adamant that he wasn't going to see. "Gaara, if you stop pestering Naruto you can have two bags of salted tongue next time we find some."  
With that Gaara lit up and stopped pestering Naruto about removing his mask. Naruto was happy until they called them up.

Naruto sat on the bed with Gaara on the side of his face that was visible. Utakata carefully watched Naruto around the medic ninja. They had cleaned his face and it looked normal, but from the look that he was given, there was something wrong. Naruto had his mask back in place before long, knowing that the medic was going to tell Utakata about his eye. "May I speak to you out in the hall for a moment?"  
Utakata followed the doctor, giving the two a stern look before closing the door behind him to hear what the medic had to say. "Naruto is now blind in his left eye. I'm sorry that there is nothing that we can do about it. And he will need to get used to only being able to see out of the one eye."  
Utakata nodded, heading back into the room to pick up Naruto and Gaara. "Thank you for your time." Utakata nodded his head to the man, carrying Gaara and Naruto down to the reception desk, paying the money and groaning at what little amount there was left.  
"Alright. We're living out in the woods for a bit."

Naruto was annoyed at how many times that he had tripped up or had banged into something that he couldn't see on his left side. Gaara had moved onto that side so that he could steer him clear of anything more that would harm him. That failed to work when Utakata asked Naruto the question that shocked him the most, all the while Gaara wasn't fast enough to stop him from tripping over something that had caught his left foot.  
"How long have you been going blind for?" Utakata help Naruto back up, waiting for an answer.  
"For as long as I can remember." Naruto thought for a minute. "There was this one time, where I could see properly, but then… It's blank… I can't remember what happened, but I couldn't see clearly with my left eye after that."  
After knowing this, Gaara always made sure to stay on Naruto's left side so that the only person that he would bang into would be him. Or should not see something that could trip him, Gaara would be able to stop him.

Three months after that day, Utakata left knowing that Gaara and Naruto would be taking care of each other as well as young boys can.

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I'm sorry the ending kind of sucked, but at the moment it's the only thing I can think of.

P.s (on the updates) when I finish each chapter for this I'll post them but otherwise there'll probably be a long wait between them.


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